Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The original DVD release of Crimson Tide occurred at a time before the trends of including cut scenes, commentary, and animated menus. While it makes sense to re-release the film with what we now considered the standard features, missing from the original, I found the overall experience somewhat disappointing.
For die-hard fans of Crimson Tide, this DVD is worth getting just to see the 7 minutes or so (Original release was 116 minutes, this version is supposed to be 123) of exra footage. The title menu is much nicer than before, and the addition of the documentary is a great bonus. But under deleted scenes, we're shown only three very short "scenes": an extra line of dialogue onboard the crew bus, a longer version of Radchenko's speech to the reporter, and a half-minute long nearly silent waiting scene before the panel at the end of the movie. All three are shown as raw footage, without any cleaning, or explanation.
All of the content in the deleted scenes is in the primary feature, in a cleaned-up and nearly seamless state. None of the new footage is more than a few seconds in length, but it's clear that all of it consists of short pieces of dialogue removed either for time constraints or clarity. What this means is that throughout the movie we're treated to bursts of extraneous dialogue that the editor had originally removed, usually for a reason. It's interesting from the point of view of a film student, but as a consumer release I think it degrades from the experience ever so slightly. Crimson Tide is all about suspense, and anything that distracts the focus of the audience is consequently lowering the quality of the movie. None of it is very overt, but there's enough of it that it might harm the experience of a first-time viewer of the film.
Overall, the extras contained in this release make it a must-have for previous fans, but for new buyers I would still recommend the original DVD cut.
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Dynamic Denzel Washington (TRAINING DAY) joins Hollywood favorite Gene Hackman (ENEMY OF THE STATE) along with Viggo Mortensen (THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) and James Gandolfini (TV's THE SOPRANOS) in this intense action thriller that's a smash hit with audiences and critics alike! In the midst of a global crisis, the USS Alabama receives an unconfirmed order to launch its nuclear missiles -- signaling the start of Word War III! The tension quickly rises as the sub's respected commander (Hackman) and his brilliant executive officer (Washington) clash over the validity of their orders ... battling each other for control of the sub! As this epic struggle rages under the sea, CRIMSON TIDE brings motion picture excitement to a new level -- and you to the edge of your seat!
